240 The Life ofFaith. they had the promife of infallibility, have no fuch force or in terpretation, For t. Their holy aFxions of obedience to for- mer Laws, are not properly Laws to us, but motives to obey Gods Laws : And this is the common uCe of all other good examples of the Saints in Scripture : Their examples are to be tryed by the Law,and followed as fccondary copies or motives, and not as the Law it felt, i Cor. 1 t. x. Be ye followers of me, -even as I alto am -of Chrift. bleb. 6. 12. Be fo'owers of them, who through faith andpatience do inherit thepromife. r Cor.4. n6. Phi1.3.17. t ThcCr.6. & z.16. & 3.7,9. Hcb. 13.7. 2. And the evil examples evenofApotiles are to be avoided, as all other evil examples recorded in the Scriptures are; fuch as Peters denial of his Lord, and the Difcip!es all forfaking him, and Peters finfui Ccparation and ditlimulation, and Bar- 'labia's with him, Gal. 2. And the fallingout of Pauland Bar- -etabas, &c. 3. And the hiflory of indifferent a ions, or thofe which were the performance but of a temporaryduty, are inftruaing tous, but not examples whichwe mutt imitate. It is no di- vine Faith which forgeth an object or rule to it fell. What- foever example we will prove to be obligatory to us to imi- tate, we muti either prove, r. That it waiban execution of Gods own commitlion, which had a promife of infallible guid- ance: Or 2, That it was done according to Come former Law ofGod, which is common to them and us. (As the fiat muff be the revealing of Come duty extended to this age, as well as that.) Dina. i a. Faith muff matte great ufe of Scripture examples, bothfor motive and comfort, when wefind their cafe to be the fame with ours. We cannot conclude that we muff imitate them in extra- ordinary circumfiances s nor can we conclude that God will give every extraordinary mercy to us, which he gave to them (as that he will makeall Kings as he did David,or all Apofi'ics. or raife all as he did Lazarus now, &c.) nor that every Be- liever (hall have the fame outward things, or (hall have jua thefame degrees ofgrace, &c. But we may conclude that we (hall have all Gods promifes fulfilled to us, as they had to them ; and lhall haveall that is thimble to our condition. As Davis
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